Chapter 52

“Zero!”

The widow, Ning Qing, finished her countdown.

Then, she slipped into a daze!

Ning Que turned her gaze toward her mistress. Should she slice her blade downward?

Ning Qing sat up with a little difficulty. She stared at Yun Zhonghe with her red eyes.

This… This was a beggar, a hooligan?

This was an illiterate man who dropped out of school in his first year of kindergarten?

He was able to produce a poem like that?

“What’s that poem called?” Ning Qing asked.

Yun Zhonghe thought for a moment before he replied, “I haven’t thought of a good name for it. However, if you want me to forcefully give it a name, then let’s call it ‘Mister Taia’.”

‘Mister Taia’?

That’s right, Taia. That’s too fitting.

The first line, ‘There are goodbyes as the blossoms move west.’

In this world, goodbyes were always accompanied by folded willows or blossoms. People folded willows during summer and spring and folded blossoms during the harsh winter.

This was especially so for a person who had been demoted from an official position. They would have to move from the prosperous east to the barren west.

The further west they headed, the drier the climate became, and the more pitiful they were. Willow trees could not survive in the west; neither could cherry blossoms.

Thus, while there are many cherry blossoms in the east, their numbers grow fewer the further west a person travels.

Twenty years ago, the Crown Prince of the Great Xia Empire failed in his revolt. As the mentor of the Crown Prince, Li Taia was demoted and sent to the barren lands in the extreme west. Many people from the world of literature folded willows as they sent him off.

The second line, ‘There is sorrow as the snow travels down south.’

Snow usually falls from the north toward the south. The more south a place was, the hotter the climate, and thus there would be no snow.

Furthermore, every time there was a tragedy, the sky always seemed as though it was about to snow heavily.

That would also happen if there were a grave injustice or a grave vengeance.

Twenty years ago, when many soldiers died during the revolt of the Crown Prince of the Great Xia Empire, massive snow fell for several consecutive nights. It was as if the snow was trying to cover up the endless sea of blood.

The snow spanned tens of thousands of miles as it fell from the north to the south. The damaged land was dyed a pitiful white.

There had been no one in the world who dared to mourn, but the heavy snow dyed the world white as if it mourned in the place of humanity.

The third and fourth lines, ‘I will always be a man of the mountains. Unable to obtain a comforting hug from my descendants’.

These two lines emphasized Mister Taia’s humble background. He had studied bitterly in the mountains. He radiated loneliness and pride. However, he was not treated kindly despite his talents and was always discriminated against and looked down upon by the nobles.

If not for the repeated humble visits by the Crown Prince, there would not have been such an affinity between him and the Crown Prince.

***

The original poem was already exceptional. However, after explaining the poem to herself, Ning Qing felt as though the poem was the best in the world.

It was a complete summary of Mister Taia’s life.

Mister Taia was the master that the Legendary Talented Lady, Ning Qing, admired most in her life.

In that instant, the poem had pierced through her soul.

Furthermore, what was more difficult was that the topic of this poem had been chosen very randomly.

Yun AoTian was absurd. The four lines of the doggerel he wrote at first were completely random.

That was why Ning Qing had asked him to start his new poem with the words ‘every,”blood,”a,’ and ‘difficult.’ She wanted to surprise him and catch him off guard.

In such a short amount of time, with barely enough time to catch a few breaths, what he had done did not pale in comparison to composing a poem in seven steps.

It was difficult enough to compose a poem with the four words, but it was even more difficult to come up with an excellent piece. To compose such a piece in less than a minute was difficult beyond imagination. The poem that he composed was still related to a central theme and touched Ning Qing’s soul. That was as difficult as touching the sky.

The gaze Ning Qing shot Yun Zhonghe was filled with disbelief.

This was a poem composed by a beggar? This was a poem composed by an illiterate?

How rare was such a talent?

It was too shocking.

Ning Qing only said a while later, “It was a good poem, a good poem.”

Ning Que immediately moved her blade away from Yun Zhonghe’s crotch.

Yun Zhonghe could not help but heave a long sigh of relief. He was covered in sweat. He even had the urge to wet himself just now.

Ning Qing looked toward Yun Zhonghe’s beggar-like face and said, “You have the right to mock poetry now. We can continue our conversation. What do you wish to say? What do you wish to do?”

At that moment, blood was continuously flowing out of her nostril. Blood even started to spurt out from the corner of her mouth.

It was like a fountain.

The situation felt wrong.

According to the detailed information found in the spy’s records, Ning Qing should have been poisoned with a slow-acting poison such as mercury or lead.

Her symptoms should include shedding hair, urinating blood, irregular menstrual cycles, warts on her hands, insomnia, frequent dreams, etc.

However, the severity of the situation before him indicated that she suffered from acute mercury poisoning. It might not solely be mercury poisoning anymore.

Furthermore, judging from the symptoms, she should have just been poisoned.

“Mistress, I’ll get the physician immediately.” Ning Que sprinted out of the room.

“I am a physician,” Yun Zhonghe said, “Your mistress has been poisoned by someone. Furthermore, she had been poisoned not too long ago. We have to treat her immediately or her life will be in danger. What did she eat just now? The person who delivered the food, the people who made the food. Capture all of them.”

Ning Qing looked at Yun Zhonghe for a moment, then trembled as she said, “Go… Go quickly.”

Ning Qing immediately fainted after she finished her sentence.

Ning Que ran toward the exit without saying another word.

Yun Zhonghe shouted, “Don’t go. Only I can save your mistress now.”

Ning Que turned around to look at Yun Zhonghe. She hesitated for a long while.

Even though the beggar before her was acting strange, she still believed the physician she was familiar with.

Thus, she still chose to run out and look for a physician. Furthermore, her mistress had many taboos. She would only let a female physician treat her.

At that moment, Yun Zhonghe could not care about it too much. He took out a small gourd from his robes and immediately stepped forward to help Ning Qing up.

“Slap, slap, slap…” He slapped Ning Qing several times.

He then pressed down hard on her philtrum.

Ning Qing woke up groggily.

Yun Zhonghe immediately poured the liquid within the gourd into her mouth.

In just half a minute, Yu Zhonghe had emptied half of the liquid from the gourd into Ning Qing’s stomach.

Ning Qing panted as she said, “You, what did you make me drink? Why did it taste so weird?”

“What else could it be?” Yun Zhonghe said, “That’s my virgin pee.”

What? That’s not right, Yun Zhonghe would never bring along something like that everywhere he went.

However, Ning Qing’s expression changed drastically when she heard his words.

“Urgh… Urgh…”

The contents in her stomach instantly poured out like a fountain.

She vomited without stopping to catch her breath.

However, Yun Zhonghe was still not satisfied. She had not vomited everything out.

She had not vomited all of the poison in her stomach.

Thus, he pried Ning Qing’s mouth open and poured in the other half of the liquid in the gourd.

He then shoved a chopstick down Ning Qing’s throat.

Ning Qing vomited once again.

At that moment, Yun Zhonghe pressed against Ning Qing’s ear and whispered, “Lady Ning Qing, do not speak. Remember everything I am going to say. It is very important.”

Ning Qing nodded as she vomited.

Yun Zhonghe spoke quickly. He was fighting for time, yet it did not delay his rescue efforts.

It was just that the image seemed a little gruesome.

Ning Que happened to witness this scene when she charged into the room with four physicians.

Yun Zhonghe was stuffing Ning Qing’s mouth with something and then pushing a chopstick down her throat.

This… This was a scene of a murder.

In that instant, Ning Que’s expression changed drastically.

She was incredibly remorseful. She had rushed out of the room to look for a physician just now but left her mistress alone in the study with the beggar.

She had been too careless.

“Yun AoTian, what are you doing? Are you asking for death?” Ning Que shouted fiercely. “Guards, break this beggar’s limbs and toss him into the underground jail.”

A few warriors charged into the room in an instant.

“Don’t hit him, don’t injure him,” Ning Qing said, incredibly weak.

“Yes!” Ning Que nodded as she said, “Mistress, Physician Xu is here.”

The four physicians who had come in were all women.

Yun Zhonghe said, “I’m already finished with inducing vomiting. Go and get some milk and feed Lady Ning Qing. Feed her continuously, feed her continuously.”

The female physician said, “I know what to do. Get out. It’s not convenient for a man to be here.”

Then, a few warriors rushed over and escorted Yun Zhonghe out.

Yun Zhonghe said, “Lady Ning Qing, remember what I said… Doctor’s instructions!”

He was then led out of the room by the warriors as if he was a little chick.

Ning Qing glanced at Yun Zhonghe with difficulty, then fainted.

Lady Ning Qing’s aide, Ning Que, said, “Let Mister Yun rest, serve him well.”

The warriors escorted Yun Zhonghe out of Ning Qing’s study.

Before he left, Yun Zhonghe turned to look at the comatose Ning Qing.

***

“Where are we going?” Yun Zhonghe asked.

The warriors did not bring him to another room in the castle. Instead, they were escorting him toward the exit.

“You’ll know when we get there,” one of the warriors said.

They then entered an underground tunnel.

They… Are they going to hold me in an underground jail cell?

Yun Zhonghe said, “What’s the meaning of this? I just saved Lady Ning Qing.”

The warrior said, “We’ll speak after Lady Ning Qing wakes up. We are still not certain if you were saving her or murdering her.”

Yun Zhonghe was then thrown into an underground jail cell.

Yun Zhonghe spent the next few hours in the underground jail of the castle. No one came to bother him.

No one sent him food, nor did anyone come to tell him if Ning Qing was awake, or if she had been treated.

Yun Zhonghe sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes and remained motionless.

His expression was grave, but he felt excited.

The situation had become very interesting.

It had become abnormally interesting.

At first, Yun Zhonghe had felt that it would be extremely difficult to complete the mission. However, currently, the enemy seemed to have given him a helping hand. It made everything much simpler.

Interesting, interesting.

Competing against a human brought immense joy.

***

Half a day passed.

A day passed.

Suddenly, two warriors entered the underground jail and instantly placed their blades on Yun Zhonghe’s neck.

“Do you want to die, or to live?” a warrior asked.

“I want to live, I want to live,” Yun Zhonghe said.

The warrior asked again, “How did you know that Lady Ning Qing had been poisoned?”

Yun Zhonghe said, “It’s a long story. I mainly looked at her symptoms.”

The warrior then said, “Is there a spy from the City of Torn Gust in this castle?”

Yun Zhonghe squinted and remained silent.

Then, a fierce pressure was applied on the edge of the sharp blade. The warrior continued with a chilling voice, saying, “Do you wish to die, or to live?”

“I want to live,” Yun Zhonghe said.

The warrior continued, saying, “Then speak.”

He wanted Yun Zhonghe to speak, but he did not want Yun Zhonghe to speak the truth.

Yun Zhonghe nodded and said, “That’s right. There is a spy from the City of Torn Gust in this castle.”

The warrior said, “Was it your spy who poisoned Lady Ning Qing?”

Yun Zhonghe said, “Sir, should I answer yes or no?”

“Do you wish to die?” the warrior asked.

“Yes,” Yun Zhonghe said without hesitation. “You are right. It is the spy from the City of Torn Gust that poisoned Lady Ning Qing.”

The warrior continued, saying, “You guys sent a spy to poison Lady Ning Qing, then sent you, Yun AoTian, to give her the antidote and save her life. This way, you would have the favor of saving Lady Ning Qing’s life on your side. Then, Lady Ning Qing would naturally be biased toward you guys in the report to come, right?”

Wow! What a genius. There were no faults to the enemy’s false charges.

“This is all a part of your scheme, a despicable scheme. It was you guys who administered the poison, and it was you guys who saved her life. You sure used every despicable method at your disposal for that report. However, you are merely seeking your death!”

“Yun AoTian of the Valley of Torn Gust, we have concrete evidence that you attempted to murder Lady Ning Qing, and you have already confessed. You will be executed!”

***